Customer Reviews

Introduction to plasma physics and controlled fusion. Volume 1, Plasma physics

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I first bought this text for an undergraduate course in plasmas, and I liked it then -- Chen's first few chapters will get you through the basics without any undue suffering (you'll hurt because the subject can be difficult, not because the text is unclear.) After spending a few months on my shelf, it reappeared for some research I was doing that required me to get comfortable with a few different types of plasma waves. Now Chen has come back into my life -- I'm taking a graduate course in kinetic theory of plasmas, and I find myself opening up this book on a daily basis to figure something out. This textbook has served me well, and if you're doing work (coursework or research) in the plasmas field, it will likely serve you well, too. The first four or five chapters are written so that a senior-level physics undergrad can understand them, so you get a nice conceptual grasp of the subject (as well as good reference material on more advanced topics.)

One point: I wouldn't recommend buying this as a "teach yourself plasma physics on a desert island" kind of book. If you can find someone who knows the subject, though, Chen will help you to learn a lot after they've explained a few basic points.

Basic subjects covered are:

Orbit theory (single particle motion, adiabatic invariants)

Fluid approximation

Plasma waves (O, X, R, L, acoustic, and many others)

Diffusion and resistivity

Equilibrium/stability issues

Kinetic theory

Assorted non-linear effects

This is a great introduction to plasma physics. I have used this book for both undergraduate and graduate work and it lends itself well to either. Starts out basic enough for 3rd and 4th year undergrads to work with and also has enough detailed information for more advanced graduate studies. I have to recommend this as the best introduction to this field out there.

19 years later this is still the best introduction to plasma physics. Obviously written by an experimentalist. Well grounded. Emphasis on problem solving. Lots of examples. Intuitive explanations before the math. Explanations of experiments and even experimental results. Solutions in the back make it well suited for self-learners. A 3rd edition would be nice with maybe a little intro to computational methods. A vol 2 would be even nicer.

This is a great book for introductory level plasma physics for undergraduates. Deals with everything from particle drifts to kinetic effects in an easy to understand physical approach. There is also a nice review of waves in plasmas.

Excellent overview of plasma physics theory. Covers all the bases. From plasma applications to non-linear effects in plasmas. There is also a great introduction to Kinetic Theory and controlled fusion physics.

I took an intro to plasma physics class using this book at the undergraduate level - and this book was perfect. It has a good blend of experimental evidence, theory, and math. The derivations are really good, you can follow along in the margins. The pictures are clear and beautiful, the page layout easy on the eyes. This is not a graduate text, but aimed at the advanced undergrad level. You should already know calculus, complex analysis, EM, and linear algebra before learning this material.

The texts of this book are not long,but are very clear in physics concepts and are simplied:

1.All important math steps to prove the physics are mentioned(not released to the reader) in simplied way so that readers can know clearly both the math steps and physics meanings without being buffered by complecated math steps.

2.The author mentioned clearly the physics meaning of any equation.

I am a bachalor of physics,such kind of textbook(clear and simple and friendly) I had had only two:textbook named "Introduction to Electrodynamic" and "Introduction to Quantum Mechanics" written by famous author,Mr. Grify.

As a result,I think it is a very good textbook,at least for students who start to learn plamsa physics.

I picked up this book for my graduate plasma 1 class alongside Goldston's book. The material is geared towards undergrads and would have been great had I picked up the book two years ago. Instead I found that I hardly opened Chen and stuck with Goldston or course notes. So if you are an undergrad or someone who is just generally interested in plasma physics this is probably what you should be buying. If you are a grad student and don't have it already then there is a decent chance that if you buy this book all you will get out of it is a warm feeling in your heart from knowing that you have the same book on your shelf that every other plasma physicist has.

Good solid introduction to plasma physics. Fairly general introduction geared towards advanced undergraduates and grad students. There are better books which concentrate on applications, both of which I own. Sturrock for geophysical and earth plasma physics and Kulsrud for astrophysics.

I didn't like Chen's style of writing. It could never keep my interest long enough for me to learn anything useful. I always started to get real sleepy every time I picked it up. I found that professor's notes were a lot more helpful for learning about plasmas.